The era of sequels, prequels and reboots continues with NBCs Quantum Leap, a re-imagining (of sorts) of the 90s show of the same name. This time, actor Raymond Lee plays Dr. Ben Song, who joins his team to unravel the mysterious nature of the technology and the original creator of the original show.
In the past few years alone, there has been a movie reboot of Star Trek which was cleverly placed in its own universe, but still rearranged Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew, making it a reboot but also sort of a sequel. The same, to a lesser extent, was done again by JJ Abrams (who headed that initial modern Star Trek movies) with Star Wars. Despite the presence of legacy characters like Han Solo, Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker in major roles, the similarities between The power awakens and A new hope are purposeful because the creative team clearly intended to “remake” the original film while also making a sequel. Suffice it to say there have been so many reboots and sequels lately, and Quantum Leap is another that can be added to the list. However, the question of whether this is a successful reboot/sequel remains.
The first episode of the reboot aired Monday 9/19 on NBC and was streamed on Peacock. For months, fans of the original have wondered if original star Scott Bakula would reprise his role in some capacity, and trade reports seemed to suggest he at least spoke to the new season’s writers. That seemed promising, but Bakula confirmed last week that he wouldn’t be appearing in the new iteration at all, and (in a friendly way) expressed doubts about how they could do it. Quantum Leap without Sam or Al.
When it comes to whether the new Quantum Leap recaptures the magic and charm of the original, Bakula’s absence will certainly play a part. The creators of the reboot, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, are doing a relatively good job of reviving the show. Still, the fact that Bakula isn’t there means it always feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing, and the same goes for Dean Stockwell’s Al.
However, the deep dive into the mythology and “how” of the original series is explored here. The new main character, Dr. Song, serves as the caretaker of the jump technology and restarts the program after all these years. The idea that one of Song’s motivations is to bring Sam home and back to the present after all these years is a nice touch, reminding audiences familiar with the previous seasons of the hero that once was. While it’s a nice touch, a series devoted entirely to that seems to be more appropriate.
2022’s Quantum Leap doesn’t fully capture the magic of the original, which is understandable to some extent given the quality of the 90s show, but still worth watching. dr. Song is an interesting and compelling protagonist, and the diversity that actor Lee brings out is amazing to watch. For longtime fans, though, it’s hard not to be reminded that he’s not quite Sam, and that Addison (the Al replacement) isn’t quite Al. It might be unfair to compare them to their original counterparts, but that’s the nature of a reboot like this.
In many ways, the original series was based on that relationship between Sam and Al, where their back and forth bickering, but ultimately beneficial friendship turned out to be great to watch. No doubt that relationship is the reason for a new series in 2022, as the post-show cult following in the years since is largely due to Bakula and Stockwell (along with the writing, of course). The core relationship isn’t the same here, and there’s certainly plenty of room for improvement to change that, which could help get some of that magic back.
One of the beauties of the premise of Quantum Leap is the episodic character, in which each outing is a new adventure with a new setting and story. This makes for a certain throwaway character to quickly move on to episodes that aren’t quite up to date, but also infinite possibilities in terms of the stories being told. It is this that offers hope and potential for this new series to develop and gain a foothold in future episodes and seasons, assuming it gets to that point. This new season doesn’t seem to have the same feel as the original, but fulfilling one major storyline in the form of saving Sam Beckett, clearly already set in motion in the pilot, could be enough to give it the boost it needs. it needs.
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